Girl whose mum put her in a oven begs for her to remain in jail — (Newsgrio.com)

Newsgrio.com

July 29, 20166:52pm

By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com

The last memory that Ashley Smith has of her mother is when she was just 14 months old.

It wasn’t being cradled while being sung nursery rhymes or rocked to sleep.

In fact, it couldn’t be more disturbingly opposite.

Melissa Wright placed her baby girl in a scorching hot oven — leaving poor defenceless Ashley’s precious soft skin with the most unimaginable third degree burns over 30 per cent of her body.

Wright, who was 26 at the time, was jailed for 25 years for attempted murder for the horrendous incident in 2002.

Wright’s parole came up for review on Tuesday, and her now 14-year-old daughter, who has endured 28 surgeries and lingering medical issues, pleaded with the Alabama Board to keep her mother behind bars, WSFA reported.

“I can’t imagine anyone being in as much pain as I went through mentally and physically,” Ashley said in her letter she bravely read out to the board.

“Now I have a great life thanks to my mum, dad, stepbrothers and sisters.”

Friends and neighbours told media at the time of the tragedy that Wright had become increasingly unstable.

What played out on that fateful day would suggest that Wright was not sound of mind.

“Evidence showed that Melissa removed the racks out of the oven, turned it to broil and waited for it to heat up and then put Ashley head first into that oven,” Elmore County District Attorney Randall Houston said.

Distressing pictures of Ashley’s burn wounds and stretched scar tissue as a toddler played a crucial part in the board’s decision.

Mr Houston said Ashley’s physical and emotional healing is nothing short of extraordinary.

“She is an extremely strong child,” he said. “How many adults can undergo the number of surgeries she has gone through in her life? That’s just incredible.”

The board was impressed with Ashley’s recovery. Source: WSFA.Source:Supplied

After a brief discussion among the board, Wright’s parole was rejected.

A board member spoke directly to Ashley expressing that he was impressed with her incredible recovery.

“Good luck to you, we are really sorry for your troubles,” he said.

Mr Houston said it was important to his office that Wright was sentenced to 25 years, and that she served every single day of her sentencing.

He pointed out that Ashley will be old enough to determine if she wants a relationship with her biological mother at the time of Wright’s release.

“If Melissa had gotten out today, she could have legally enforced her parental rights,” Mr Houston said.